Once upon a time (in the not-too-distant past) watch collectors would have been compelled to take to the forums and social media, if what they were in search of was a wider sense of community.
Now, a trifecta of Singaporean entrepreneurs – led by Arich Tan, CEO of the largest wellness conglomerate in the city – is looking to ensnare the top end of that market, with a new members-only concept that integrates the comforts of Annabel’s or Pall Mall 67 into the activity of watch collecting.
Dubbed 33Club – in deference to traditional ideas in Chinese numerology about the auspiciousness of the number ’33’ – this new high-end club (billing itself as Asia’s first members-only community “dedicated to timepiece lovers and collectors”) sits at the heart of Singapore’s iconic Raffles Place, in a Grade A address that has been transformed by German interiors outfit Syrenka Studio.
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Consisting of three discrete spaces – a bar & lounge, watch ’boutique’ and even a full-blown spa – it’s clear from the outset that 33Club puts a little more effort into the amenities than your local chapter of Red Bar. According to Tan, the genesis for the club’s creation was to provide watch collectors – many of whom shall ostensibly be Singaporean scions and rainmakers in Asian markets – with a holdfast where they could discuss, handle and exchange mechanical watches with adequate privacy.
Though Singapore remains a universally safe environment in which to take your $105,000 Royal Oak out for a spin, clubs that offer privacy and a gatekept members’ community remain all the rage in Southeast Asia – something that Tan and his cohorts are intimately conscious of. “One of our members recently came in to have lunch,” he says, “and was wearing a rare Richard Mille.” “He was happy to discuss [the piece], to chat about how he obtained the watch and what its story was…elsewhere you wouldn’t be comfortable talking about something like that with people you’d never met before.”
Beyond the facilities for wining and dining which are so crucial to bringing high net worth collectors together (particularly in Singapore), 33Club also features a fully integrated watch-trading boutique – notably also accessible to visitors. Managed primarily by collector and horophile Terence Ho (one of Tan’s fellow co-founders) the boutique’s stated purpose is to help 33Club members “avail themselves of exclusive and bespoke timepieces normally off-limits to the general public”.
According to Tan, the club’s meticulously cultivated network of dealers and third-party retailers has enabled it to source “around 95 percent” of the pieces that members have previously requested; which, if recent history is any indication, likely includes a huge chunk of vintage Rolex; and unobtanium Patek Philippe releases.
Doubling down on the idea of a safe and pampering space, 33Club’s final USP (as far as competing watch societies go) is its inclusion of a fully fledged boutique spa. Again, open to both members and the broader public on the club’s upper floor, at time of writing it’s also the only retailer in Singapore of Dr. Baumann – a range of boutique skincare solutions manufactured in Siegen, Germany.
It would have been amusing if 33Club had been able to source a range of pricey spa treatments from Saxonia – birthplace of such watchmakers as A. Lange & Söhne – but one gets a sense of the parallel management is drawing by partnering with an indie brand like Dr. Baumann.
To learn more about 33Club Singapore or speak to one of the club’s membership managers, check out the link below.
